By Pamela Cruz and Marvin Bamaca. Peninsula 360 Press.
“To be or not to be, that is the question,” is the first line of the third act of a soliloquy from William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet (written around 1600). However, it applies perfectly to Latino-Americans who face discrimination and bullying for not speaking (or speaking poorly) Spanish, the main language of the Hispanic community in the U.S.
According to a Pew Research Center studyWhile the majority of American Latinos speak Spanish, nearly half (54 percent) of those who do not have been embarrassed or bullied by other Hispanics because they do not speak the language.
The study reveals that, according to Latinos, some Hispanics make jokes about those who do not speak Spanish, and that four out of 10 Hispanic adults say they hear others make jokes, very often or very frequently, about those who do not speak Spanish or do not speak it well.
Of the 7,647 U.S. adults, including 3,029 Hispanics, surveyed for this analysis, 75 percent said they can hold a conversation in Spanish “fairly well or very well.” While the majority of Latinos (85 percent) said that speaking Spanish is at least somewhat important for future generations of Latinos in the United States.
At the same time, he said that 78 percent of Hispanic Americans said that it is not necessary to speak Spanish to be considered Hispanic.
While most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish, there are some who do not. Twenty-four percent of all Latino adults surveyed reported that they can only hold a conversation in Spanish “little or not at all.”
Meanwhile, among third-generation or higher Latinos, a much larger proportion are not Spanish speakers: nearly two-thirds (65 percent) say they cannot hold a conversation well in Spanish.
Ofelia Bello, 31, born in the United States and living in East Palo Alto, said she felt discrimination and bullying when she started working in that same city. Although she always heard and spoke Spanish at home, having always studied in English made it a bit difficult for her to communicate professionally when dealing with a Spanish speaker.
“It has definitely happened (discrimination and/or bullying) where I say something wrong, especially in my early years when I started working in East Palo Alto and I would start trying to communicate, give presentations or interview someone, like longer conversations in Spanish,” Ofelia told Peninsula 360 Press.
“But, on one occasion or another, I have had people say to me, 'Hey, did you say that wrong?' or they laugh a little. For me, these are minor things, I don't take them as very heavy things, because, of course, one feels bad a little. Sometimes I wonder what I would do if I didn't have such high self-esteem and confidence in my work, in myself, this would perhaps affect me more.”
In this sense, Ofelia said that the most common thing is that she is corrected, an action that she does not take badly, because she likes to learn.
“I appreciate those moments when people correct me or say, ‘Hey, those are the words you made up. ’ But, in my experience, that happens more than hearing mockery or, I don’t know, maybe they do it behind my back, but I don’t give it any importance,” she said.
Spanish makes Ofelia feel closer to her culture. “It is a privilege to be able to understand the stories told to us by seniors who only speak Spanish. For me, it feels very nice to be able to understand and communicate, not only understand, but also talk to people. I have nieces and nephews who understand Spanish, but they can’t speak it, so it’s like a different level.”
For Laura Rubio, originally from Maravatío, Michoacán, Mexico, and who has lived in East Palo Alto for 22 years, the Spanish language is the connection with “her people,” however, it is necessary to learn English.
“The language I am most fluent in is definitely Spanish. It connects me more with some members of the community. But being in this country, you do see the need to study a little to learn English, because it is very important to have contact with other people who do not speak your same language.”
Laura has suffered discrimination from other Latinos around her who do not understand that she does not speak or understand English well.
“I have definitely felt discriminated against, because they push me aside or sometimes they don't even ask me, that seems rude to me. For example, when there are people who speak completely Spanish and you are there and the whole conversation is in English, that also makes me feel discriminated against or makes me feel bad, disconnected from them.”
“That is why in the environments where I am, if I speak Spanish and other people speak Spanish, I ask them or suggest that they speak Spanish to avoid misunderstandings and definitely feel more connected to them. But on several occasions I have felt segregated and discriminated against for not speaking English, to be honest,” said Laura, specifying that she constantly experiences these types of situations in spaces such as government buildings or large hospitals.
However, he told Peninsula 360 Press, being or feeling Latino goes far beyond Spanish.
“You don't have to master Spanish perfectly to feel Latin, for example, second generations sometimes don't speak it perfectly or they speak it with other idioms, such as ', such as 'Spanglish'', and that doesn't mean that they don't identify as Latinos. However, unfortunately, many of us no longer instill in our children the words to speak Spanish correctly and they start using those idioms that are also inherited and in the end they make changes in our language."
It is worth noting that the use of “Spanglish,” a linguistic variety that mixes Spanish and English, and alternates between both languages, is widespread among Hispanic Americans, as 63 percent say they speak it at least sometimes.
The Pew Research Center study highlights that personal Hispanic identity is related to opinions about the Spanish language.
In that sense, he points out that Hispanic Americans who consider their Hispanic identity to be extremely or very important to the way they think about themselves are more likely than other Hispanics to say that it is important for future generations to speak Spanish.
According to The Hispanic Council, the Hispanic population currently accounts for around 20 percent of the total, and by 2060, 27.5 percent of the U.S. population will be of Hispanic origin.
Figures from the Cervantes Institute indicate that in less than four decades, the United States will be the country with the second largest number of Spanish speakers in the world, behind only Mexico.
Latino identity
The Pew Research Center analysis points out that Latino identity in the United States can be determined by many factors. One of them is speaking Spanish, since some Latinos use it to distinguish who is Latino and who is not. However, the majority of Latino adults (78 percent) say that it is not necessary to speak Spanish to be considered Latino, while 21 percent say that it is.
While a strong majority among major Latino demographic subgroups say it is not necessary to speak Spanish to be considered Latino, there are some notable differences in opinion.
The figures showed that Latino immigrants are less likely than U.S.-born Latinos to say that speaking Spanish is not necessary to be considered Latino: 70 percent versus 87 percent.
In this regard, it is noteworthy that Hispanics who are fluent in Spanish (34 percent) are more likely to be bilingual (22 percent) and Hispanics who are fluent in English (6 percent) to say that speaking Spanish is necessary for a person to be considered Hispanic.
Alejandra Osorio, another East Palo Alto resident, considers her identity very much embraced by her community, one that has sought to maintain traditions and support so that its Latino-ness is preserved.
“I think that the roots of being Latino are very reinforced here culturally, because there is a lot of support in the community to celebrate or not to miss those important dates as Latinos.”
For Salvador Magaña, who was born in Michoacán, Mexico, and lived 15 years in Redwood City and two in East Palo Alto, having perfect command of Spanish and English is essential.
“I like my daughters, of whom I have five, to learn both languages, including English, so they can live in this country, but I also know that it is important for them to know how to speak Spanish, understand it and write it, which they do very well, so that they have more opportunities to excel,” she said.
The Hispanic community is not homogeneous, nor is its relationship with Spanish. English is the most widely spoken language throughout the United States. However, more than 7 out of 10 Hispanics use Spanish to communicate in their family environment. This shows that Spanish is a living language, which Hispanics use for its cultural ties and for its professional projection.
Spanish is also the most widely studied foreign language in the United States, with more than 8 million students. 9 out of 10 schools in the United States offer their students the opportunity to study Spanish. It is a unique opportunity for both Spanish-speaking families who want to preserve the use of Spanish and for any student who wants to master a second language, according to The Hispanic Council.
The organization states that 26 percent of the total Spanish speakers in the United States are in California, reaching almost 40 percent of the total, only surpassed by New Mexico, where the Hispanic community represents almost half of the total population.
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